Lighting device



' Oct. 24, 1950 I. F. FAUSEK ET AL LIGHTING DEVICE Filed May 7, 1949 INVENTORS WILLIS L. REEDY EMORY F. COPELAND lnwmc F. FAusEK ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 24, .1950

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIGHTING DEVICE IrwinglF. Fausek, Clayton, Willis L. Reedy, St. a Louis, and Emory F. Copeland, Webster Groves,

Application May 7, 1949, Serial No. 92,062

This invention relates generally to lighting devices of the sparking. type heretofore employed for igniting gas and other combustibles, and more specifically to the type of lighting device disclosed by United States LettersPatentNo. 1,853,205, granted on April 12, 1932, the predominant object of the invention being to provide a lighting device of this type which, because of its improved construction and arrangement will not be accidentally actuated so as to createsparks in the event it is dropped, or falls to thefioor, oris otherwise subjected toimpact. I

The lighting device disclosed by the United States Letters Patent referred to above performs its intended function in a highly efiicient manner, but one'deficiency is prese'nt in connection with the use of such lighting device 'which,,'und er certain circumstances, might reduce, somewhat, complete safety of use o f the lighting'device The deficiency referred to results from merger that the flint which is in the effective position with respect to the abrasive member of the lighting device is free at all times to move relative to said abrasive member in contact therewith, and, therefore, if the lighting deviceshould belaccidentallyi'droppedrand should strike; the floor, or otherfarticle, in'ja manner togca'us'e the eifectively positioned fiint'to moveaio' ggthea vegme'm ber, sparkswould be Diioduced ,Whihm1ght' ignite gas present at the location atwhich the'l'iglriting device was dropped The main. purpose o ffthe present irivent oli is broken away. 1 1 4 Fig 3 is an enlarged sectionta ken on line of Fig.2. M

Fig. 4is a section taken on line4 4- of Fig. 3. In the, drawings, wherein are shown forpur' poses of illustratiommerely, oneembodimenuof the invention, designates. the illustrated lighting device generally. The lighting device A in cludes ahandle, I, an abrasivemember 2 which is supported by a portion of said handle Landa mins. (char-6.1)

, 2 plurality of sparking elements, or flints 3 supported by another portion of the handle I in a manner to permit of one of said sparking elements being moved with respect to and in contact with said abrasivefmember so as to produce sparks. The handle 1 preferably is formed from a strip of metal, or other suitable material, which is possessed pf considerable resiliency, said strip beingbent to assume a'substantially U-shaped form, as is shown in Fig. 2. For the purpose of convenience in describingthe invention we designate one leg portion of the handle I by the reference character la, the other leg portion of the handle. by the reference character Ib, and the bowedconnecting portion at the outer end of the handle by thereference character Ic.

,'The end portion of theleg portion Ia of the handle I opposite the end, thereof which joins the bowed connecting portion Ic thereof is shaped as'is 'illustrated'in Fig. '2; that is to say a yoke 4 is provided whichis comprised of oppositely disposed'side walls la, and.4b and an end wall 40 ,whichis formed integral with said side walls 4a and'4b., Theyoke 4 is integrally joined to the leg, portionla of the handle I by an inclined connecting portion'5 whereby the handle I and the Yoke ,4 provide a unitary structure.

Supportedwithin the yoke I is a box-like structure-Ifwhich houses the abrasive member 2 of thedevice A', said box-like structure having a bottom wall la, opposed side walls Ib, and a rear wall 1c. It i's'to be noted that the opposed side walls 71) of the boX-likestructure I project rearwardly of the rear wall of said box-like structure considerable distances and these rearwardly projected'side wall portions perform a function to be hereinafter set forth. The opposed side walls lb of the born-like structure 4 contact with the opposed portions 4a and 4b of the yoke 4, while the forward edge of the bottom wall Ia of said boxlike structure is in substantial contact with the portion 40, of saidyoke, as is shown in Fig. 1.

[The abrasive member 2, which may be formed of-anysuitable material, such as suitable metal, or the materialfknown commercially as Lava, is provided with an opening which extends longitudinally therethrough from end to end thereof, and the-opposed side walls of the box-like structure I and-the portions 4a and 4b of the yoke are providedwith openings that are alined with said opening of the abrasive member. Extended through'the openings of the yoke portions 411 and 4b, and the openings of the opposed walls of the box-like structure, and through the opening of the abrasivemember 2 is an element 9 which is provided with a head 9a at one end that contacts with the outer face of the yoke portion 41), said element at its opposite end being provided with extensions 9b which are bent outwardly so as to retain the element in its efiective place in the lighter structure where it retains the boxlike structure and the. abrasive member in place within the yoke 4. The forward end portion II) of the leg portion lb of the handle I is twisted approximately 90 with respect to the remainder of said leg portion, as is shown to good advantage in Figs. 1 and 2, the forward portion of said portion I preferably being tapered. 7

Associated with the portion I0 of the leg portion lb is a head II of triangular shape which is supported by a bolt I2, said bolt including an enlarged head portion and a screwthreaded shank 1 portion which is of less diameter than said head portion. The screwthreaded shank portion 'of' the bolt I2 extends through alined openings formed through the head H andthe'portion I0 of theleg Ib of'thehandle l of the lighting deyice A," and a nut I3 ismounted on said screwthread'ed" shank portiorr of the bolt, said nut drawing ashoulder'at'the innerend of theenlarged head portion'of' thebolt into tight engagement with a lower face-portion of thehead II and, said nut in .turn-being'in tight engagement with an'upper face portion of the portion Ill ofthe leg portion lb of. the handle I.' Thus, when the'nut; I 3 is drawn down tight against the upper face of the portion Ifl'of the leg lb of the handle I the head H is securely held stationary relative tosaid handle portion Illiand when it is desired to rotate the head about the bolt nut I3 may be backed up to relieve the gripping efiect of the bolt and nut relative to said head, where.-

upon said head may be rotated.

The fiints 3;previously referred to herein,.are

supported by the head I I' and said head is sub- 'jected'to rotation about the bolt I2, ,as is explained above, whentheflint in theefiective position' becomesworn and it is desired to shift. the

head I I so as-to bring another flint into the effecvent unintended rotation of said head about the -The, s ide portion 412 of the yoke 4, is provided 'with an extension I5 which is shaped as is shown in-Fig. 2. In other words, the extension I6 of the side portion' lb of the yoke I'includes a portion I60, whichinclines outwardly andrearwardly from said side portion 412 of the yokeand term'i nates inan -arcuate portion Ifib which inturn terminates in an inwardly and rearwardlyinclined portion I 60. It is important-to' h'ote that the outward projection of the extension 16 is of such extent 'that said' extension is located outwardlyoffthe adjacent edge or the headII. "As 'a result of this situation movement of the effe'c tii'zely locatedflint 3 relative is and in-contact with the" abrasive member 2 1s prevented in the event lighting 'device isd'ropped or falls to the floor; "because the impact will be takenby h fl l l i I h l iol F l h ybk and no jar will be imparte'd t'o" the" portion H! of 4 leg lb of the handle I of the device which would tend to move the effectively located flint relative to and in contact with the abrasive member 2 so as to produce sparks.

When it is desired to produce sparks in the use of the lighting device of this invention the handle I is grasped by a hand of the user, and the leg portions Ia. and Ib of said handle are quickly moved toward each other to cause the effectively located flint 3 to move longitudinally of the abrasive member '2 in contact therewith. In this connection it is to be noted that the head portion of the bolt I2 is located between the rearwardly-extended portions of the side walls lb of the box-like structure I, and these rearwardly extended portions serve as abutments with which said head portion of the bolt I2 contacts so as to limit movement of the effectively located flint 3 in opposite directions.

We claim:

I. A lighting device comprising a resilient supporting element having leg portions capable of relative movement, a yoke portion forming a part of one of said leg portions of said resilient supporting element, an abrasive member supported by said oke portion, a head supported by another leg ofsaid resilient supporting element and having a plurality of sparking elements mounted thereon; said head having a portion which ex tends outwardly-of the leg of the resilient supporting elementby which it is supported, said supporting element being yieldable to permit movement of oneofsaid sparking elements relative to saidabrasive member in contact therewith, and means for preventing unintended movement of said sparking element relative to said abrasive member in contact therewith, said means comprising, an impact-receiving extension projected from said yoke portion and shaped insubstantial accordance with the outwardly extended portion of said head and disposed in protective relation with respect to said head.

1 2. A lighting device comprising a resilient supporting "element having leg portions capable of 4 relative movement; ayoke portion forming a part or nine of said leg portions of' said resilient supporting element; an'abrasive member supported by saidynke portionja head supported by another leg/ofjsaidresilient supporting element and havinga plurality of sparking elements mounted thereon, said head having a portion which extends outwardly. of the leg of the resilient supporting element by which it is supported, said supporting element being yieldable to permit movement of one of said sparking elements relative to said abrasivemember in. contact therewith, and means for preventing unintended movement of said sparking. element relative to said abrasive member in contacttherewith, said means comprising an impact=receiving"extension of substantially V-shaped formation projected from said yoke portion and disposed in protective relation with respect to the outwardly extended portion of said-head. I

3:A lighting device comprising a resilient supporting element having leg portions capable of relative movement, a yoke portion forming a part of one of said leg portions of said resilient supporting element, an abrasive member supported by said yokepor'tiom a' head supported for rotation by another legof said resilient supporting element and having a plurality of sparking elements mounted thereon, said head having a portion-which extendsoutwardly of the leg of the resilient supporting element by which it is supported, said supporting element being yieldable to permit movement of one of said sparking elements relative to said abrasive member in contact therewith, means for preventing unintended movement of said sparking element relative to said abrasive member in contact therewith, said means comprising an impact-receiving extension projected from said yoke portion and shaped in accordance with the outwardly extended portion of said head, said head being provided with a plurality of noncircular openings formed therein, and a projected part on the head-supporting leg portion of said supporting element which extends into one of said elongated openings of said head.

4. A lighting device comprising a resilient supporting element having leg portions capable of relative movement, a yoke portion forming a part of one of said leg portions of said resilient supporting element, an abrasive member supported by said yoke portion, a head supported for rotation by another leg of said resilient supporting element and having a plurality of sparking elements mounted thereon, said head having aportion which extends outwardly of the leg of the resilient supporting element by which it is supported, said supporting element being yieldable to permit movement of one of said sparking elements relative to said abrasive member in contact therewith, means for preventing unintended movement of said sparkin element relative to said abrasive member in contact therewith, said means comprising an impact-receiving extension projected from said yoke portion and shaped in accordance with the outwardly extended portion of said head, said head being provided with a plurality of elongated openings formed therein, and a projected part on the head-supporting leg portion of said supporting element which extends into one of said elongated openings of said head.

IRWING F. FAUSEK.

WILLIS L. REEDY.

EMORY F. COPELAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,021,363 Gould Mar. 26, 1912 1,849,528 Johnson Mar. 15, 1932 1,853,205 Fausek et a1 Apr. 12, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 91,328 Austria Feb. 26, 1923 

